Celebrating Success: October 2017

Celebrating Success: October 2017

WOW!  October was a super positive month!  We received so much good news throughout the month and are excited to share it with the community.  Here are some of the great successes we had during the month of October:

  • OVO was awarded $3,000 from American Family Insurance for the Community Dreamers Award!  We were nominated by a former Board member and Chairperson, Dennis Thomas.  We are one of 90 organizations selected from over 17,000 nominated nonprofits to be awarded this great honor!
  • Construction is underway!  Earlier this year, our Head Start Program received supplemental funds to extend duration of services, which means we will be able to extend classroom hours for many of the children participating in our program.  In order to do this, it was necessary to increase space and add on an additional classroom at both our Jennings and Scott County locations.  This month, we signed the necessary contracts to begin construction at our Jennings and Scott County Centers, and groundwork has begun in Jennings County.  We can’t wait to see the construction completed, and open our new classrooms for our little students!
  • OVO hosted our Second Annual Meeting!  On October 6th, staff, Board members, and distinguished guests came together for an evening of fun, food, and an excellent training presentation. Gregory Nielsen, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, was the special guest speaker for the evening and discussed the role of nonprofits in the communities they serve and strategies for staff and organizational success.  We are already looking forward to next year’s event and to continuing this new tradition for years to come!
  • Place a check mark next to Step 1 of our Community Needs Assessment!  Client and partner surveys have been mailed.  With assistance from the Madison Area Chamber of Commerce, we were able to utilize their bulk mailing service and saved 37% on our postage.  Now, we eagerly await for the surveys to be returned and to hear the voice of our community!
  • We had an excellent monitoring of our Energy Assistance Program and our Community Services Block Grant.  As with any Community Action Agency, we are frequently monitored across programs and throughout the year.  We always welcome monitorings, because it gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the awesome work we are doing here at our organization and to get constructive feedback from the experts!
  • We had a great day at Soup, Stew, Chili & Brew!  The annual festival was held on October 14th on Main Street in downtown Madison.  We were especially grateful to the Historic Broadway Tavern for donating our menu selections for the day: Pizza Soup and White Chicken Chili.  We would also like to thank the Law Office of Jenner, Sutter, Pattison & Wynn for donating our booth fee and Orscheln Farm & Home in Madison for donating water.  With such incredible community support, we were able to have a very successful and fun day at the festival and garner donations to support our mission!
  • We received an awesome thank you from Jameson Camp!  Through this summer’s Camp And More Project (CAMP), we sent 17 youth to a week long overnight camp at Jameson Camp July 9-16th.  We were so pleased to have received a personalized thank you note from the staff at the camp for our partnership from over the summer.

October was a truly great month for demonstrating why it is we are called “Community Action!”  With the support of individuals, businesses, and other organizations, we are making a difference in our communities every day!  Go OVO!